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Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday on the Miracle

Sail Date:
November 2011

Destination:
Southern Caribbean

Embarkation:
Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

Returned this Saturday from a great time aboard Carnival's Miracle. We were travelling with a large group of 22 people total and Carnival could not have been more accommodating to our needs. The Main Dinning Room staff made sure we had tables right next to one another which was wonderful for the grandparents in our group who very infrequently get to see their grand children. The waiter's assistant, Dewae, was fabulous with the kids, making them presents on several evenings. We also had no problems getting our balcony divider doors opened which gave several in our group "super-sized" balconies. This was particularly helpful as one in our group was my 96 years old grandfather who has sever mobility issues. The steward for 4 of our cabins on deck 7, Mr. Casy, is one of Carnival's true gems. He went above and beyond the call of duty assisting us with our grandfather. If you travel on the Miracle and he is your steward, be prepared for amazing service from him! Between our 22 folks, More
we have been on 35 Carnival Cruises and everyone agreed he was the most awesome steward ever.

As for the food, I was pleasantly surprised. I am a bit of a "foodie" and had read some not so stellar reviews of the main dinning room and the Lido deck. Every meal I had in the main dinning room was wonderful. I could have done with a little more variety on the Lido deck, but all in all the food was good. A group did Nick and Nora's steakhouse one evening and the meal there was absolutely fabulous. I Highly recommend the surf and turf and the chocolate sampler.

As for the ports, four of us did the America's cup regatta on St. Maarten's and it was a lot of fun. One of the best shore excursions I have ever been on.

In St. Lucia, I was on a private your of the Island with 11 others which I and everyone thoroughly enjoyed. However, some in our group went on a bus tour which was arranged by Carnival. Form them, it was terrible. The tour was supposed to be "handicapped friendly", but was far from it. Our grandfather was only able to get off the bus one time and the tour company persons would not assist our family in helping him. The tour guide on that trip was also very rude to my parents. They complained to guests services on return and Carnival did reimburse them 1/2 the value of that excursion.

On St. Kitts, we did the sail and snorkel to Shitten's Bay and had a wonderful time. That boats crew were fun loving and extremely helpful both with our grandfather and with my 8 year old nephew who chickened out of going into the water.

I personally had a blast in the casino. I made enough points under their system to get all my alcohol while gambling comped which was awesome. Also the casino provided me with several other free gifts during during my stay including chocolate covered strawberries, wine at dinner, a free hat and t-shirt, and 20% off my next cruise. I did fairly well in my slot play return hitting a couple hundred dollars multiple times. My mom was extremely lucky hitting a $1000.00 dollar jackpot on the first day at see. Several of us played in the slot tournaments and blackjack tournament and although we did not win those, they were organized so that we had a lot of fun.The kids in our group, 4, 8 and 17 all loved camp carnival. The younger two boys even begged some days to go back in the evenings. The counselors were wonderful with them and both boys said they were going to miss all the fun they had.

All in all the trip was wonderful. My only complaint was embarktion which I found caotic. Some of the security staff were also very rude to us. One lady broke my sunglasses and while it was inadvertant, she did not apologize.

In short, I highly recommend the Miracle for a fun family vacation. Less